Patient flow in the emergency department: phase III--after disposition decision through departure

Patient flow in the emergency department: phase III--after disposition decision through departure

Collection:
Health Policy and Services Research
Series Title(s):
Pennsylvania patient safety advisory
Author(s):
Magee, Mary C., author
Contributor(s):
Pennsylvania. Patient Safety Authority, issuing body.
ECRI (Organization), issuing body.
Institute for Safe Medication Practices, issuing body.
Publication:
[Harrisburg, Pa.] : Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, December 2015
Language(s):
English
Format:
Text
Subject(s):
Emergency Medical Services
Emergency Service, Hospital
Medical Errors -- prevention & control
Medical Errors -- statistics & numerical data
Patient Transfer
Pennsylvania
United States
Genre(s):
Technical Report
Abstract:
In 2013, Pennsylvania hospitals reported 23,749 events to the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority in which the emergency department (ED) was selected as the care area. Of these reports, 540 (2.3%) involved patients undergoing care in the time between disposition decision through departure from the ED (i.e., phase III); reported consequences ranged from no-harm events requiring monitoring to events resulting in harm or even death. Several components of this phase have potential safety hazards. Two hundred and thirty-nine events (44.3% of the 540 ED phase III events) involved monitoring the patient until an inpatient bed was available or until the patient was discharged or transferred, and 199 events (36.9%) were gaps in care unrecognized by ED personnel (i.e., identified by another caregiver or department). This article, the third in a series that addresses patient safety related to ED flow, focuses on strategies to improve processes of care and patient safety during ED phase III.
Copyright:
Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-ND license. (More information)
Extent:
1 online resource (1 PDF file (pages 132-140))
Illustrations:
Illustrations
NLM Unique ID:
101673941 (See catalog record)
Permanent Link:
http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101673941